Defying Equilibrium

Chapter 13: Magic

"I detest walking," proclaimed Sansu, as they began their journey into the forest. "It's so boring. And everything looks the same around here. I mean look, there's a tree, some rocks, some dirt. Your walk ten steps, and what's ahead of you know? Another tree, more rocks and more dirt."

Oscar chuckled. "How observant of you."

Sansu had always gotten along well with Oscar, but she had the complete opposite personality type to Dare. This meant that they disagreed on pretty much everything, and they argued often. Right now, she was staring intently at the back of Dare's head. His hair was not in it's usual braid today, it hung unbound down his back, and its messiness was irritating her immensely.

"Can you tie your hair back please?" Sansu groaned. "It's really beginning to bug me. How does it not get in your face all the time? And it's so messy..."

"Why does it bother you so much?" he asked. "It's not like it's your hair."

"I know, because if it was mine, I'd tie it back," she retorted. "As soon as it gets dark, I'm going to be walking behind you with a flaming torch, for crying out loud. I can't help but think it'll be a fire hazard."

"Always the voice of reason," Dare sighed. "Learn to live a little, walk on the wild side. Let your hair out once in a while," he laughed, and winked at her. Sansu wanted to smack the smug grin off his face.

"If you don't mind," said Ahmed loudly, "I'd prefer to walk without the constant bickering, if possible. We have a long journey ahead of us."

They walked the next section in silence. Silence was never usually a problem for Oscar, he was the thoughtful type who often enjoyed silence as it allowed him to think clearly. However, there was something about this silence that made him uneasy. He always trusted his gut instinct, and right now it was telling him that something wasn't right. Glancing around, he realised that Sansu appeared to have noticed it too. She was looking around, as if searching for the source of the feeling. Dare hadn't noticed anything,but that wasn't surprising. When he had something on his mind, he was oblivious to almost everything around him.

Suddenly, Oscar came to a complete stop. He realised what it was, what was making him feel uneasy. It was the silence itself. He couldn't hear anything at all. No birds in the trees, no insects chirping, no branches creaking in the breeze. In fact, there was no breeze. The air didn't seem to be moving at all, it was as if they had entered a space that was frozen in time.

"Unsettling, isn't it?" Ahmed smirked. Oscar realised that Ahmed must know something about what was going on, as he didn't seem the least bit unsettled. Ahmed turned his head towards a section of the forest, and called. "Was this really necessary, Dakora? I told you that we can trust these ones. You can come out now."

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Oscar asked suspiciously.

"An old friend," he answered. "Someone who knows the way to where we're going like the back of her hand." He turned back and called again, "Didn't you hear me? I said we can trust these ones. You can come out."

All of a sudden, something dropped out of the trees directly where Ahmed had been calling. The 'something' stood up, and revealed itself to be a girl. She looked about eighteen years old, and she had platinum blonde hair, so light it almost looked white.

She laughed. "I don't need an invitation, Ahmed. I was coming." She grinned, turning to look at the three teenagers who were staring at her, open-mouthed. It's not everyday that time appears to freeze, followed by a mysterious girl falling from a tree, after all.

"Oscar, Dare and Sansu, right?" She smiled and walked over. Oscar was instantly wary of the newcomer, but Dare took an instant liking to the strange girl. When she got closer, they could see that she had very strange coloured eyes. They were a coppery-brown colour, but rimmed in red. Combined with her extremely light hair and pale skin, it had the effect of making her look not quite human.

"You didn't need to go to such lengths to test them," said Ahmed. Test us? Thought Oscar. "I told you that we can trust them," continued Ahmed.

The strange girl, or 'Dakora' as Ahmed had called her, just laughed and winked at him. "I know that. It's just fun."

"What did you do?" Asked Oscar. "Was it you who made everything silent? How did you do it?"

"A sharp one," she remarked. "Yes, it was me. I created this silence to test your perceptiveness. I just wanted to see if you'd notice. Neat little trick, eh?"

"But how?" cried Oscar.

"That's amazing!" cried Dare at the exact same time.

"How, you ask?" she chuckled. "Magic!"

Oscar raised an eyebrow. That kind of magic was reserved for tales told at night to children. The only kind of magic that was real was the magic that kept Equilibrium in place. Each sword and shield alike were both imbued with a magic that made them unbeatable, and unbreakable. They were taught in school that there were certain people who created the weapons, who indeed were able to use magic. So it was not the existence of magic that was in question, but rather that this girl, this strange girl, was claiming to have control of it.

"I thought the only magic users were those who worked the forges," said Sansu, sharing Oscar's suspicion.

Dakora nodded. "You're exactly right. I was working the forges, ever since I was about seven, when they first discovered I could use magic. That was until Ahmed helped me to escape from there. And so I owe him one, which is why I'm helping you out on this little 'quest' of yours."

"Wait, escape?" asked Dare. "As in, you couldn't leave?"

She looked at him like he was an idiot. "Of course not. Those of us working the forges, we know everything. And you think that they'll just let us leave, let us spread rumours, spread the truth? Lose the naivete, kid."

"I'm no kid," he returned, smirking. "And I'm not naïve."

She laughed, "Yes you are. You may think that you've seen your fair share of crap, kid. But trust me, you haven't seen jack shit yet." Her tone softened slightly. "And I hope that you never do."

Dare brushed it off nonchalantly with trademark arrogance. "It takes a lot to scare me, you know." It was impossible to tell whether he was being earnest or not. "I'll tackle anything head on to see this to the end."

She looked him up and down, as if assessing the validity of his claim, and then snorted. "Give me that in writing. I'll be sure to bring it up when I see you pissing yourself in fear."

The others expected Dare to have some smart-ass retort, but he kept his mouth shut. He was clearly awed by this girl, with her strange appearance and even stranger story.